Unpacking the Roles of a Clinical Educator

What does it mean to be a clinical educator?

Being a clinician is at your core. You have learned your profession so well that you often do not have to think about why you are doing something or how you are going to do it.

This level of proficiency can often change when supervising a student. A shift can occur from expert clinician to relatively novice Clinical Educator; novice because teaching students is not part of your daily routine and because even though you may have years of clinical experience as a SLP or Audiologist, every student’s learning needs are different and you must constantly re-align your teaching style to match each student.

This module aims to define the role of a Clinical Educator. By making the expectations and roles of a CE explicit, you will continue to develop your skillset in this area.

The following reference from the literature has been used to inform the following discussion points:

1. Rose, M., & Best, D. (2005). Exploring the roles of the clinical educator. In Transforming Practice through Clinical Education, Professional Supervision, and Mentoring. Elsevier Health Sciences.

The six roles of a CE:

Click the buttons below to review and reflect on the following six roles, as

Manager

×

In the Manager role, your primary responsibilities include preparing for a student, which can consist of:
• Orienting the student to your site and the expectations of the placement
• Orienting the student to your organization’s policies and procedures
• Creating an optimal learning environment for the student
• Ensuring that other staff and team members are also prepared for a student
• Making materials, tests, readings, and resources available for the student
• Meeting externship guidelines as outlined by the post-secondary institution

SELF-REFLECTION:
We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the next role.
– How do you ensure the Manager role has been fulfilled?
– Are there aspects of this role that you do not see as relevant to your position?
– Are there other responsibilities that should be included under the Manager role?

Instructor

×

The role of Instructor moves beyond traditional didactic teaching methods and includes the following learning processes:
• Presenting (e.g. suggesting, modeling, and explaining)
• Questioning (e.g. pausing, probing, asking divergent questions), and
• Problem-solving (e.g. delineating the problem, identifying factors and gathering information, applying and appraising solutions)

Meeting the student where they are at is an important part of any teaching process. As a student moves from a student clinician to an entry-level clinician, instructors change the amount of coaching and scaffolding they provide, by gradually reducing the amount of support and providing different types of feedback.

SELF-REFLECTION:
We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the next role.
– What’s your preferred method of instructing?
– How do you engage your student in learning?
– How do you like to be taught? Do you appreciate experiential learning that “throws you in” or do you prefer to have the opportunity to observe and collaborate before taking on a task?
– How much independence do you think students should have on externships? How independent do we need them to be prior to graduation?

Observer

×

Observation of the student is essential when providing the student with feedback, assessing their competence, and ensuring they are upholding a safe and ethical practice. The observer gathers information and shares this data with key stakeholders, namely the student and/or the Clinical Coordinator.

SELF-REFLECTION:
We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the next role.
– How do you take notes during student-client interactions? Do you use guiding questions to prompt you?
– Who else may be an appropriate Observer during the student’s externship?
– Do you use the student’s own observations to inform your overall impressions?

Giver of Feedback

×

As an Instructor, you aim to explicitly teach the student relevant clinical skills and attitudes. As an Observer, you make notes of how the student presents in the clinical setting. As a Provider of Feedback, you share these notes to help the student grow and develop their professional clinical identity.

SELF-REFLECTION:
We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the next role.
– Do you prefer to provide verbal or written feedback or both? What do students prefer?
– Setting aside designated time to provide feedback to your student helps support a positive learning environment. When do you prefer to provide the student with feedback (e.g., at the beginning of the day, after a session with a client, at the end of the day, etc.)? What do students typically prefer?
– Do you use a specific written feedback form? If not, click here for a Feedback Form that can help guide your feedback practice: https://med-fom-clinicaled-sass.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2022/05/Stop-Start-Contine-Think-about-feedback-form.pdf
– Have you engaged in peer feedback between groups of students?
– What do you think of clients providing feedback to students?

Counsellor

×

McGartland (as cited in Rose & Best, 2005) proposes the following counselling behaviours:

• Understanding that students are both fragile and robust and that the supervisory relationship should balance this. Create a safe environment for the student to share their reactions/emotions with you. Meeting students where they are at instead of where you think they should be can create a more supportive and positive learning environment.

• Understanding the student demographic. For example, studies suggest that students present with higher rates of anxiety than ever before. Factors affecting this include pressures of social media, large student-debts and stress with balancing home and school life. For further reading on this topic, refer to: Ellis, C. & Briley, P.M. (2018), Experience Doesn’t Reduce All Stress: An Exploration of Perceived Stress Among Graduate Students in Speech-Language Pathology. Journal of Allied Health, Winter, 47(4): 277-281.

• Helping the student to understand the issue better by assisting them to clearly identify the problem. Engage the student in a conversation about how they can help themselves and reflecting this solution-focused approach as growth and learning.

• Understanding that as the Clinical Educator, you are not responsible for solving the problem.

• Actively listening to the student and reflecting back what you understand.

• Identifying the student’s strengths, providing concrete examples and encouraging the student to do the same.

• Contacting the Clinical Coordinator at the post-secondary institution for support. Knowing when to refer and reach out to other professionals.

SELF-REFLECTION:

We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the next role.
– Does being a “counsellor” to the student make you immediately think of scope of practice and professional boundaries?
– According to the authors, assigning this role within the larger role of CE has caused debate amongst clinicians. What is your reaction to “counsellor” being ascribed to your CE role?

Evaluator/Assessor

×

Unlike the roles of Observer and Giver of Feedback, the role of Evaluator/Assessor can have a sense of finality about it. Giving feedback is an integral part of the student’s formative learning during externships, whereas providing an evaluation or assessment is a summative learning experience.

SELF-REFLECTION:
We encourage you to write these questions down and reflect on each one before going onto the last section.
– Do you perceive a difference in delivering formative feedback (e.g. midterm evaluation or providing verbal/written feedback after a session) vs. summative feedback (e.g. final evaluation)?
– Do you find one easier than the other?

A Student-Centered Approach:

Now that you have reviewed the many roles of a Clinical Educator, we hope you can appreciate the overlap between the role of the CE and the role of the clinician. This begs the question: Are students similar to clients?

With clients, the initial meeting is often based on information seeking – case history, conversations, chart notes etc. From there, we develop goals with our clients, put together an assessment plan, followed by intervention that focuses on empowering clients to achieve their personal best. This is client-centered care at its best. Therefore, can this process also work for students? What might an optimal student-centered approach look like?

Join the Conversation:

Contact Us: If you have questions or comments about this learning module, please email Eavan Sinden at esinden@audiospeech.ubc.ca